The Graying of America Of the total federal expenditures in 1995, Social Security together with Medicare(federally founded health program aimed at helping the elderly, founded in 1965) was the largest, accounting for about 34 percent. In 2005 this figure is predicted to be as high as 39 percent. This is caused by the "graying" of America and the increased number of elderly who will collect benefits for a longer portion of their lives, coupled with a reduction of the number of workers available to pay for their benefits. Increasing costs of living and higher standards of living (as reflected in higher wages) also are consequences. In short, if no action is taken in the interim, by approximately 2013 the federal government will have to raise taxes, increase the debt, print more money, reduce Social Security benefits immediately, or do some combination of those things to rectify the Social Security cash- flow imbalance.

Social Security Poster: old man

English: In the United States, Social Security ben...

English: In the United States, Social Security ben...

The surplus will be gone. The amounts needed by the Social Security system, even in the early years, are not insignificant. In 2015 experts believe that the government will have to find approximately $57 billion to meet its obligations. By 2020 the number will have grown to $232 billion. The demographic makeup of America is changing. The share of the population over the age of 65 will continue to grow well into the next century. Today, approximately 13 percent of the population of the United States is over age 65. By 2030 that percentage will increase to more than 20 percent. Even more surprising, in less than 50 years, there will be as many Americans aged 80 and older as there are now people over 65. People are also living longer; In 1900 life expectancy was 47 at birth, and if you lived to be 65, your life...

More Economics essays:

... of our major trading partners, the United States ($185 billion), the European Community ($125 billion) and Japan ($65 billion) (Blackwell, 1993, p26). These factors were a mounting source of pressure on the previous regulatory structure of the Canadian telecom system ...

... the board in the United States . The potential for computer makers, software makers, internet providers and internet service providers are immense and American companies could gain tremendously from their potential. These benefits will not be limited to the big name companies of the United States ...

... states that the ageing population and its dependence on the welfare state is draining America's potential for future economic development. One can be sure that Thurow is not an advocate of the American welfare system. The aged extract six times more funds from social security ...

... the poorest schools in the nation. Helen Souel director of technology for the state of Mississippi said, "If structured properly, the settlement could really have far-reaching positive effects on students of the United States". (Linn, 2001) Sounds like this is another example of the ...

6 pages33Feb/20080.0

Students & Profs. say about us:

"Good news: you can turn to other's writing help. WriteWork has over 100,000 sample papers"